The Company We Keep
by Drax Kamone
Summary: Ryan is the leader of a group of five genetically altered boys named MEWs. He was created by The Company to collect the other MEWs in the world and bring them back. But when he runs into a blast from the past, what can they do to stop The Company?
1. The Company We Keep EP 00: Devil's Food

**The Company We Keep EP 00: Devil's Food**

One year after the addition of the Dual-Mew, Mew Berry, into the ranks of the Tokyo Mew Mews, a European company, known only as 'The Company', started to work on their own form of Mew. Just like the originals, there were five and they varied in which animal was put in them, only they were males and the animals weren't all endangered. However, these five were split up when they were created and the leader, known as Ryan Kamone, was tasked to find his comrades and bring them back to The Company. This is his story…

"Man, I hope I can find Skye soon. I have dinner appointments with my cousin and his family…" I sighed as I walked down an alley in the Chinatown district of California. "The scanner says that he should be in this building," I said as I stopped in front of a small jewelry shop.

"Hello? Is there a boy named Skye in this household?" I asked as I entered the store.

"Skye? Sorry, he's busy with his studies right now. Can I get your name and number? Maybe he can call you when he's done," the lady behind the register replied.

"Oh, but that is why I'm here. I go to the same school as Skye and I came over to see if he needed any help with his work," I lied effortlessly.

"Oh, in that case, let me show you to his room," the nice lady offered.

"No thank you, it would be best for you to stay here and watch over the shop. I'm sure I can find it. Thank you for the offer though," I said as politely as I could.

"That sounds good. It is the third door to the left. Remember to knock before entering, the boy can be really jumpy at times," she said, getting back to her book.

"Right. I'll be as quick as I can so that I'm not a bother to you," I said, going up the stairs. I walked to the third door and check the scanner. He was in there, no doubt about it.

"Hey Skye, I have something to tell you," I said, knocking on his door.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, coming to the door and opening it.

"I'm Ryan Momomiya and I have answers for you as well as things you didn't even know you could do. It is up to you if you want to hear them or not, but it would be for the best to listen," I said, changing into my military form of speech.

"Alright, I'll hear you out. This gives me a good excuse to avoid homework for the time being. Spill your beans Ryan," he said, popping in a piece of gum.

"Sure thing, but let's sit down somewhere first, I've been walking for a long time and I'm afraid my legs won't hold out for much longer. Is your room fine?" I asked him

"Yeah, I have a sofa. We can talk there," he pointed out to me.

"Thank you very much," I said, sitting down with Skye sitting next to me. "The thing is, you are a MEW. That stands for Mutationally Enhanced Weapon. Like me, you gain special powers when you are in potentially life-threatening situations," I said, wondering what he was going to ask.

"And what are the specifics about my Enhanced form?" he asked.

"Wait, you aren't thinking this is crazy? Wow. Anyways, your Enhanced form is a mystery to me, it can only be confirmed by having you transform yourself. However, I can tell you that you gain a weapon or two and some part of the animal inside you will show up, like if you were a bird, wings would form or a tail, or if you were a wolf, which I am, you gain ears and a tail. Does this make sense to you?" I asked.

"Wow. Sounds complex. I can't wait to find out which one I am!" he said, getting excited. "But you wouldn't come all the way out here just to TELL me this. What is your true objective?" he asked me.

"Wow you're sharp. My objective is to gather up the MEWs and form a team for The Company. Will you come with me to find others like us and possibly kick the most major of ass?" I asked, holding out my hand to him.

"If it means I get out of school, then sure!" he said, grabbing my hand and shaking it.

"Ok then, come with me," I said, going out of his room. "Oh wait, I forgot. I'll give you 10 minutes to pack your things. Tell me when you're…"

"DONE!" he called in, interrupting me.

"Good Lord that was fast. Did you pre-pack or something?" I asked him.

"Nope, all I needed to do was take the items off my bathroom sink, two pairs of clothing, my wallet, and my DS and charger. Took me about a minute to get them all," he said, holding up a bag.

"Good. Now I'll take that," I said, taking his bag. I then used his blanket as a makeshift pulley system and lowered his bag to the ground outside. I grabbed him and led him downstairs.

"Where are you boys going at this hour?" his mother asked.

"Oh, I was just going to show Ryan the garden since he was kind enough to come all the way out here to meet me," Skye said, being a natural liar.

"Alright, but it is almost dark out, hurry back ASAP, ok?" she asked, worried like the typical mother would be.

"It's a promise Mom," he said in response. We went out the door and around the back, picking up his bag.

"Ok, now I have a car about two blocks away. Do you think you could beat me in a race there?" I asked, challenging him.

"Not really. Never been much of a runner," he admitted.

"Aw, ok then. Let's walk and enjoy the view while we go then. I'm sure you still have plenty of questions," I said, putting my hands behind my head and starting off towards the car.

"Yeah, like 'How many other members are there?' and 'Who is The Company?'" he said, asking the exact questions I had in mind.

"Well, as far as I know, there are five of us total, that includes us, and we were genetically modified by The Company for some strange reason. They keep everything in secret, even their name. Only the Inner Circle knows the real name of The Company! But I do know that I'm being paid for this, so it is worth it. Oh yeah, you're being paid now too by the way," I said, rushing through the details.

"How much?" he asked, getting interested.

"About $10/hour, but we're on the clock 24/7, so you get paid while you sleep too!" I said, happy about my job.

"Sweet, how often does a paycheck come?" he asked, being predictable as ever.

"Once a week, we need money to get from place to place you know," I pointed out, to which he nodded.

"Anyways, we're here. Get in and I'll get us to an airport. We're off to New York for the next member!" I said, pumping my fists.

"Awesome! I've always wanted to go to New York. I hear the Buffalo Wings there are really good," he said, drooling slightly.

"Come on, we'll find out when we get there."

"…And that's how I saved Christmas," I said once we touched down in Florida. We had just gotten our third partner and The Company told me the location of the latest member located.

"Interesting story, it really passed the time on that 5 hour flight…" Sebastian Hawke, our newest member, said when we got off the plane. We got out of the airport about 20 minutes later and went straight to the Expedition that was left for us by The Company.

"Hey, what's this thing?" Skye asked as he hopped in the front of the car.

"I think it's a note. Let me see it," I said, taking the paper from Skye. "Dear MEWs, We have put the coordinates for your hotel in the Expedition's GPA system. When you arrive there, give the Alias 'Mr. Bryant' to the register and they shall have your room prepared. Inside you will find four optical scanning devices, or OSDs. Use them one to a person and learn Japanese with them. When you have found the fourth member, your next target will be in Japan. Also, when you find the fourth member, give him the OSD and head to the airport. Your flight will be waiting. Get back alive, The Company. That sounds easy enough. Let's roll out!" I said after reading the note out loud.

After driving for 25 minutes, we reached the Barrington Hotel and got to our room. We scanned ourselves and settled down for the night.

The next morning we all were still a bit groggy, all but Sebastian, so we took our time getting ready. After about one and a half hours, we left on foot and explored the Central Plaza in search of the next member.

"Man, this is gonna be tough," Sebastian complained.

"It took us 2 hours to find you in NEW YORK! So I suggest you zip it and look with us. I have a tracking device that," I started to say when a seagull swooped down and stole the tracker. "Tracks them… Crap! Ok, now it might be a little complicated…" I sighed.

"What could be a little complicated?" a stranger walked up and asked me.

"Excuse me, but could I ask who the hell you are?" Skye said, faking civility.

"One of you guys of course. I mean, isn't it rare to have different colored hair naturally? I mean, the one who just had his GPS stolen has burning red hair, which can't be natural, yet it is. The rude one has bright orange hair with black highlights. Either that is the best damn job of dying I have ever seen or it is natural. And the quiet one over here has bright blue hair with no other color showing in his roots, he has to be a natural blue-head," the strange man said.

"And since you have green hair… have you exhibited strange behaviors lately related to animals?" I asked him, curious as to if this guy was our man.

"Why yes, I've been hearing strange clicking sounds from the dolphin exhibit at the aquarium nearby, and the thing is that I can understand what they are saying!" he exclaimed.

"Interesting. My name is Ryan. What is yours?" I asked him.

"Oh, I'm Richard. You can call me Ricky!" he said happily.

"How do you know that our hair isn't dyed?" Skye asked.

"Oh, my father is a hair stylist, so I can easily tell between fake colors and real colors. Fake colors just cover the other TRUE hair, so it has a certain tint to it that shows the real hair. You guys don't have a tint, meaning your hair must be natural," he explained to him.

"Oh, makes sense. I'm Skye and he's Sebastian. Nice to meet you!" Skye said, happy that this dude wasn't a total creep and even more happy that this mission was almost over.

"Can I join your group?" Ricky asked.

"Ok, now I'm weirded out. How do you know about this stuff?" I asked.

"Simple. I overheard your conversation a while back while you passed me. I was window shopping, you see, seeing as my aunt needs new sandals but is currently sick with a cold," he said.

"Well then. He's nosy, arrogant, and smart. Perfect for our team! Welcome aboard Ricky. Now use this OSD and let's head to your house to pick up your personal belongings," I said, gesturing him to lead us to his house. As we walked, I explained what he was and what the group is about. I also told him about the group's current personalities and about The Company. Once he gathered his stuff, we found a convertible waiting for us down at the bottom of the steps.

"Wow, they never cease to amaze me. I mean, how much crap do they have? First an Expedition then this…" I sighed as I hopped in the driver's seat. I drove us to the airport and got us on the private jet they had set up for us. "Oh COME ON! This is just too much man!" I yelled as I got on.

"Oh well, as long as it gets us where we need to be, I'm fine with it," Sebastian said, to which Skye and Ricky nodded.

"Fine," I sighed, getting in a seat and strapping in.

As I turned off my music and laid back in the chair on this long flight, I couldn't help but wonder what Japan was like and what the fifth MEW was like. Thinking on this I swiftly fell asleep. In my sleep, I saw a pink-haired girl coming closer and closer, but I couldn't make out her face. She kept coming closer and closer until finally she was within view for me to see what she looked like. But before I could actually memorize her face, I woke up from a sudden burst of turbulence.

"Ichigo…" I said, still half-asleep.

"What's that, Ryan? You must have been dreaming. We're coming in on the airport and we hit a bit of air pressure. We're ok now, but we have to buckle up, we land in 10," Skye said, having had experience with airplanes, his father being a pilot and all.

I wondered who this girl was and why I dreamt of her. And why did I suddenly say Ichigo when I woke up? I guess I'll have to wait to find out…


	2. The Company We Keep EP 01: Pretty Please

**The Company We Keep EP 01: Pretty Please With a Strawberry on Top?**

We landed in Tokyo with only one problem: Ricky was airsick.

"Well I guess we're going to have to cut back on our frequent flyer miles now. Yippee," I said sarcastically.

"Well someone's in a bad mood. Did you have a nightmare as you were sleeping on the plane?" Skye said mockingly to me.

"No. But it was a weird dream… Anyways, let's get Ricky to the hotel so we can search for the last member of our squadron of MEW fighters. I really need to get out of here before Gojira attacks," I joked, being serious about the hotel.

"Alright, let me just fetch dolphin boy," Sebastian said, going into the bathroom. He came out with Ricky on his shoulder, unconscious. "What? It was the only way to keep him from releasing his bowels and screaming," he explained.

"What? I didn't say anything. If I were you I'd do the same," I said, shrugging my shoulders and walking off towards the Accord LX they left us.

"Ok then, let's get a move on!" Skye said, running for shotgun. We reached the hotel where we dropped our luggage off and thankfully we kept the newbie due to the fact that he got over his sickness when he came to.

"So, where is the fifth member?" Sebastian asked.

"According to the GPS, he should be right around the corner," I said, parking the car and walking towards the signal. What I saw was amazing. I saw a boy and a girl balancing on a HUGE ball whilst juggling dozens of bottles. Truly these street performers had some skill in their corner.  
"Bravo, bravo. Would you two fine performers happen to know where I could find a young male boy by the name of Samuel?" I said, realizing that the others were still in the car waiting for me.

"You're lookin' at him. But I don't go by Samuel anymore. I go by Sammy, Sammy O'Brien. Now what do you want, you're postponing my show here with Pudding," he said, putting down half of the bottles he was juggling so as not to drop them and hurt himself or anyone else while talking.

"Good thing I found you. Could I talk to you about what you really are for a bit?" I asked him blatantly.

"How do you know of what I am?" he asked. "Just what do you think I am?"

"Simple. I think you're a MEW created by The Company to be a part of our team to counteract the Tokyo Mew Mews monopoly on fighting potential threats to the world," I answered.

"NO! I would never go against my friends! You must be an enemy, for anyone who goes against my friends cannot be a good person!" he yelled, grabbing a strange golden medallion and transforming into his Enhanced form. The girl, Pudding I inferred, did the same. His was more of a kangaroo and hers a monkey.

"Aw crap!" I yelled, but the others were already gone, having sped back to the hotel to get Ricky to a toilet. The peanuts on the plane had apparently made him sick.

Sammy charged at me wearing boxing gloves and pudding used two rings to chunk well, pudding at me. My feral instincts took over and I entered Hyper Enhanced state, a state higher than Enhanced, but less controllable.

"What's this?" Pudding asked, confused as to how I was completely oblivious to her Pudding Ring attack. She signaled for the nearby Mews to assemble and help her while Sammy held me off. I eventually grew restless and tossed Sammy into Pudding, knocking the two of them out. Just as I was about to attack them again in uncontrollable rage, I got hit with an arrow and a blast of water, both sending me flying back a few feet.

I looked up at my opponents, Mew Mint and Mew Lettuce had shown up. I pulled out my special weapon, a bastard sword. I charged at Mew Mint, fearing her arrows the most, and kicked her unconscious. Mew Lettuce managed to get a few more hits on me before I did the same to her. Then I repeated the pain to the now present Mew Berry, who would have hit me if her attack wasn't so slow.

"GRAH!" I yelled out in fury as the last Mew (Mew Zakuro was out on modeling duty in Hokkaido) appeared to challenge me. I charged at her and then immediately stopped. Before she could attack me I uttered "Ichigo." She looked puzzled and stared at me. I resumed my normal form and then collapsed, exhausted from battle and using my Hyper form.

I woke up the next day in a laboratory bed.

"Wh-Where am I?" I asked, sitting up.

"You are in my lab. I just finished conducting tests on what you are. It would seem that you are the same as one of my girls on the Tokyo Mew Mew squad," a strange blonde man told me.

"Well duh, I was created as such by The Company," I replied. I then realized I had said too much and shut up.

"Well, The Company. Sounds mysterious and powerful. Tell me, what is your name?" he asked.

"Isn't it Japanese courtesy to give one's name before asking it of another?" I asked in reply.

"True, I forgot about that. I am Ryou Shirogane. I am pleased to meet you," he said, bowing.

"And I am Ryan Momomiya, I don't know if I can say the feeling's mutual," I said, realizing I was strapped to the table and I couldn't get out.

"Well Ryan, what can you tell me about this 'The Company'?" he asked me.

"I honestly know nothing more than you do. All that I know is that The Company made us and is having me gather the rest for their mission. Speaking of which, one of our people is apparently a friend with your Mews. He is named Sammy," I said.

"And are you and Sammy the only others in your group?" he asked. "Because I noticed you came alone to fight the Mews."

"Oh yeah, there are five of us counting Sammy and I. Too bad Sammy doesn't want to join us," I grumbled.

"Now then, where are your friends right now?" he asked.

"Probably holding Ricky's head back while he pukes at the hotel!" I laughed, picturing the guys and Ricky having an oh-so glorious time at the hotel. "Now I bet that I'm not going to live through the night, so please do me a favor: DESTROY THE COMPANY!" I yelled at him.

"Sheesh, I'm not going to KILL you. In fact, I just want to be friends with you and your group. It seems that this Company has wronged you in some way, seeing as you didn't hesitate in asking me to destroy it. How did they wrong you?" he asked me.

"I can't remember anything…" I sighed.

"I'm sure if you think of something you can remember," he said.

"No, that is what they did. I can't remember ANYTHING. All that I get is the occasional glimpse at my past life. But aside from that, all I remember is my life as a subject in their experiments…" I sobbed, tears starting to well up.

"It's ok. I understand what you feel. I lost my parents at a young age, so I can sympathize with the pain. Please, become our friend. Join the Mew Mews. Help us to stop this Company once and for all and bring back peace to this land," Ryou said to me, offering me his hand.

"I would (sniff) take your hand (sniff sniff) if I wasn't strapped to this table. I'll be your friend and I will convince my comrades to join me in this decision!" I said, stopping the crying once and for all. He then freed me and brought me to a room with all the Mews in it, even Zakuro.

"Say hello to our newest ally, Mew Flame!" Ryou said, pushing me forward into the room.

"I'm terribly sorry for attacking you all like that earlier…" I said, hanging my head in shame.

"We know you were just following orders." Mew Mint said.

"You didn't really have a choice but to attack us for fear of the Company." Sammy said.

"But the important thing is that you stopped." Mew Lettuce said.

"And that you are sorry for what you did." Me Zakuro said.

"Also that you decided to be our friend is cool too!" Mew Pudding declared.

"But why did you stop when you reached her? And why did you call out her name before passing out?" Mew Berry asked. I looked up at all of their faces, counting six of them.

"Where's the pink haired one?" I asked, confused as to where she went.

"She behind us. She's a bit small you know!" Mew Mint teased.

"I'm right here, Ryan," a red-haired girl said, coming out from behind them.

"H-How do you know my name?" I asked, confused.

"You don't remember do you? Do you remember my name?" she asked me, getting closer.

"I… Ichigo?" I asked, looking deep into her eyes and remembering my dreams. All of a sudden memories started to fly back into my mind and I fell to the ground cringing in pain.

"Is, is he alright!?" Lettuce asked.

"He'll be fine, he's just gaining back years of lost memories that The Company stole from him." Ryou said.

I got up soon after and shook my head.

"Are you alright, Ryan?" Berry asked me.

"I'm better than alright, now I know who I am!" I declared, smiling widely.

"You guys, Ryan… is my twin brother," Ichigo said to the group. Their jaws dropped. For years they had thought of Ichigo as an only child. But now they knew of a hidden family that they had never known about.

"That's right. About 5 years ago, 2 years before the first time Ichigo changed into Mew Strawberry, suits with guns kidnapped me. Apparently I had a positive check with their compatibility screening, so they took me in for testing and experimentation on the genetic level. I was turned into a MEW about 2 months ago, probably the same day that Ichigo changed 3 years ago. They erased all of my memories and basically made me a killing machine. They plan to use us and their newfound intelligence to take out the Tokyo Mew Mews and bring about the end of the world," I explained, then I passed out from the previous pain of remembering 16 years of memories.

"..ro..er. Brother… BROTHER!" Ichigo chanted until she smacked me awake.

"Mornin' sis. Your slap hurts just as much as ever," I commented as I woke up from my old bed at our house.

"And your complaining seems to have not changed a bit. Now then, time to go get us some breakfast and head off to school!" she said happily, charging down the stairs towards the kitchen. I shoved some clothes on and ran down after her. I quickly ate my food so I could get proper clothes on and get fully ready. I then rushed downstairs and met my waiting Ichigo at the bottom.

"Come on, we're going to be late!" she said, bouncing up and down impatiently.

"Honey, do you think Ichigo is alright? I mean, this is the first time she's been wanting to go to school on time in ages," Mom asked Dad in the kitchen.

"Well her twin, our son, just got back from his five years of training in the mountains, so wouldn't you be excited too?" he asked in reply.

"Well, I guess you're right dear. Now get off to work before YOU'RE late!" she scolded him.

"Wait, isn't today SATURDAY?" I asked, realizing the day.

"It is! Dear, you don't have work today. And kids, no school either!" Mom told us as I went back upstairs to get something better to wear.

"Hey Ryan, what are you gonna do today?" Ichigo asked me from outside as I changed in the bathroom.

"Well, I was planning on finding the old MEWs and getting them to join the Mew Mews. I'm sorry, but duty has to come before pleasure sometimes sis," I said, apologizing in my way for not being available to hang out with her today. "But I'm free tomorrow! We can hang out then." I added in.

"Fine. Oh yeah, you aren't going to be finding your friends first today, you have work to do at Café Mew Mew!" she called to me in a sing-songy tone.


	3. The Company We Keep EP 02: First Day

**The Company We Keep EP 02: The First Day of Work**

"So… I have to wear this white suit and serve cakes to people in my spare time as a cover for our meetings and for the secret base? Sounds… interesting," I said as I looked at the suit in despair.

"Oh come on Ryan! Don't be such a wimp and get in that suit!" Ichigo teased me, throwing the suit at me.

"Fine, but I'm not gonna enjoy this!" I said, trying to keep SOME of my masculine pride.

"Sure you aren't," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Get out so I can change, sis. Guys need their privacy as much as girls do!" I said, booting her out of the changing room.

"Fine, fine! Don't have to be so rough about it," she said, teasing me yet again. I came out a couple of minutes later in full robe.

"It doesn't itch like I thought it would!" I said, shocked at how soft the suit was compared to the suits I was used to.

"That's because it is of the finest quality, tailored to you. We don't cut expenses here at Café Mew Mew seeing as all we really have to pay is the cost of equipment, including ingredients, and a basic business owner's fee," Keiichiro said to me.

"Seems like you guys get good business. Should be fun!" I said gleefully, looking into the main lobby.

"Right, now get out there. You are to be assigned to tables 3, 10, 11, 12 and 16 today. Listen to Mint's orders and provide me with a list of what the customer wants. Got that?" Keiichiro asked.

"Roger sir! I'll start right away!" I said, saluting out of sheer habit. I walked out into the crowded main lobby and started to take the orders. After about an hour of this, I got the hang of it and started to notice when the customers came and left, allowing me to go about predicting Mint's orders.

After work that day…

"Hey, Ryan!" Ichigo called over to me. "I'd like to introduce you to Masaya Aoyama, a classmate of mine. He works with us here at the Café most of the time, today he couldn't work due to kendo practice, however," she explained.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Masaya. And Ichigo, I have a feeling you aren't telling me the whole story. No matter what it is, I'll listen to you and support whatever you say," I said, shaking Masaya's hand and looking at my younger twin sister.

"Are you sure you won't get mad?" Ichigo asked me.

"What would there to be mad about?" I asked, already knowing about the relationship from the way that she was looking at him when I showed up.

"Well, me and Masaya are sort of dating. Also, Masaya actually has a hidden side to him, one that has now been sealed away. An 'alien' side," she said. The boyfriend I could take, but this was a shocker. My jaw dropped and I immediately shut it so as not to have bad manners.

"Well, this was unexpected. As long as you trust him, however, I trust him too. It's a pleasure to meet you, Masaya, but I have to be going now. I still have some hooligans to round up," I said, dashing off towards the hotel.

I arrived there about 20 minutes after departure. When I got to the room, Skye ambushed me.

"Hey man, where's that fifth member you were saying you were going to easily bring back? Did you fail? Or were you wrong about his identity?" he said, bombarding me with questions.

"Time out for a second, how can I answer so many questions all in a row when you don't give me time to explain?" I said, calmly shoving him off of me.

"Well, then, spill it!" he said impatiently.

"Fine! But before I can say anything, do we still have the car?" I asked.

"Yeah, it is parked behind the hotel so no one can see it," Sebastian said.

"Well that's good, I'll tell you all about what happened when we get to a place I found," I calmly explained, going out the door and beckoning them to follow me. Richard followed immediately and Sebastian had to force Skye to co-operate with me.

I took them to the front of the Café and showed them the building's exterior.

"A nice plot of land to build a popular sweets shop on, right?" I asked them.

"Yeah, I like how the botany is arranged!" Richard said, baffled by the beauty of the Café.

"What are you getting at, Ryan? Why did you bring us all the way out here?" Skye asked, getting impatient.

"Simple. I have an offer for you!" I said, throwing my hands behind my head and turning around with a wide smile on my face.

"What kind of offer is this? And how can we know that you are trustworthy enough to come through with it?" Sebastian asked before Skye could.

"Why, I would like to offer you all a place on the team of the Tokyo Mew Mews!" I said, grinning more.

"But, that would mean going against The Company, the very ones who created us!" Skye shouted at me.

"So? The Company is an evil organization. I should know this better than all of you for one reason: I was the first to be created. Therefore, they didn't completely wipe my memory when creating me!" I explained.

"How are they so evil? Weren't you, our leader, saying just yesterday how much you wanted to get this guy so we could get back to them?" Skye pushed whilst Sebastian and Richard seriously thought over my offer.

"I was, because I was brainwashed by them. All they want to do is bring chaos to the world and rule over it. That is basically a staple for evil! Also, if they were really the good guys, why is it that you can't recall anything before two years ago?" I asked him.

"Because I was in a car crash and got amnesia!" Skye said.

"Like hell you did! I'll bet you money that Sebastian and Ricky were told the exact same things when they woke up from having their memories erased!" I yelled at him.

"Ugh… is this true guys?" he asked the two of them.

"Yup, we were both told the exact same thing as you were told," Ricky said, resuming his conversation with Sebastian.

"See? All that The Company can do is lie to us, so why should we stay with them? The Mew Mews provide shelter, steady jobs, and good friends for a peaceful life without murder and mayhem! Can't you see that? We are much better off and have a much better chance of survival if we stay here than if we go back to England to meet with The Company's representatives!" I yelled at him, trying to pound sense into his head.

"You… you're right, Ryan. I'll join the Mew Mews with you, and together we'll live peacefully here in Japan!" Skye said, finally putting a smile on his face.

"And we have decided to stay too. I for one love the beauty of this place and the convenient locations of the oceans is to die for!" Ricky said, coming over to me.

"And I just plain hate all of this flying, it's such a drag!" Sebastian said.

"Well now that we have everyone on board, let's go meet the team!" I said, walking in the building with them close behind.

"… And we all welcome you to the Mew Mew family!" Ryou welcomed at the end of his introductions.

"We're glad to be here!" Ricky said on behalf of the group.

"Well guys, as of right now I have no idea where you guys will live so… I'll use my pay to give you guys a stay at that hotel until I can find you a place you can live," I said, bringing up the subject of work.

"Speaking of which, when do we start this job that you mentioned?" Sebastian asked.

"Tomorrow!" I replied with a smile. "Be sure to show up at 10 AM sharp to prepare. We open at 10:30 so if you come late, come before then!"

"Yes sir!" Skye said, happy to not have to do any kind of school. The others were happy about it too, since they get to work for money, be on a super team, AND get free rent until an apartment is found.

"Ok then, you guys go back to the hotel and get your stuff spread out. You'll be there for a while. I'll come by later to pay the bill. Now see ya!" I told them as I rushed them out of the room. The Mew Mews had already left about 10 minutes ago so it was just Ryou, Keiichiro, and I.

"Hey, why did you stay after?" Ryou asked me.

"I have some suggestions based on what I've observed. First off, I noticed the huge profit we get off of this and that you appear to be from a wealthy family Ryou, else you couldn't have started this place. Furthermore, you must have some money stashed from the many years of serving sweets," I said.

"Where is this going Ryan?" Keiichiro asked.

"I was thinking of doing some work on the store with the guys! I noticed that most of the customers were girls, yet there were still some guys. I overheard a conversation between two guys after we closed, they were talking about keeping this visit secret because sweets are apparently not for guys. So why not make a gym so they can have the excuse of 'going to the gym' when people ask them why they were there? Also, Skye is really good with technology and he actually has some very good ideas, so I was thinking of expanding the underground lab to make room for some serious inventing!" I said, pulling out a piece of paper with all the details on it.

"But why would we need to have a bigger inventions lab?" Keiichiro asked.

"Because The Company will be wanting us back when they hear of our betrayal. They will most definitely send more creations to attack and apprehend us. This won't be like the aliens you are used to. These guys are out to kill, so we need to make more efficient weaponry!" I said, slamming my palms on the desk.

"I understand. We'll consider it. For now, you should be getting to the hotel and your home. I'm sure that the hotel manager would like to know what you plan on doing and I'm also sure that you're parents will get worried if they don't know where you are," Ryou said.

"Yes sir! I'll talk to you guys tomorrow. Just tell me when you make up your mind!" I called as I ran out the door to get to the hotel. I noticed that a bike was there by the Café so I picked it up and rode to the hotel. I paid the bill for two weeks in advance, explained the situation to the hotel manager, and biked home.

"Finally you get back. Does it really take that long to pay the bill at a hotel?" Ichigo asked me.

"Well, yeah. It was hard to explain it correctly to the manager. Anyways, are Mom and Dad home?" I asked, walking inside.

"Yeah. Dinner was served a few minutes ago. Don't let it get cold now, it would be bad manners," Ichigo told me. We sat down and joined Mom and Dad for dinner, which was quite tasty.

"So, Ryan, how was your first day at work? Did Ichigo pester you too much?" Dad asked me.

"It was fine, Ichigo was just her usual self. She really does do well at her job. Her boyfriend seems reliable too!" I said between mouthfuls.

"Ah, so you met Masaya today, too. I'm glad you accepted him better than your father did…" Mom sighed.

"Well, he seems like a pretty nice guy and I didn't feel any weird vibes from him. Also, sis trusts him, so I trust him too!" I chuckled, picking up my plate to go wash it in the sink.

"Ichigo, has Ryan been acting strange lately?" Dad asked her.

"What? No! Well, there was when he …" she started to say when I came back in.

"No mom, I've been acting like my usual self! Nothing out of the ordinary over here!" I said, smiling.

"Well that's good to hear. Now could you help me clean up dear?" Mom asked Dad.

"Sure thing honey!" he replied gleefully. I sat up and walked over to Ichigo.

"Hey, let's let them be and go do something together whilst the night is still fresh!" I said, offering her my hand.

"Sure!" she replied, happily grabbing my hand. I lifted her to her feet and raced off to the door with her. We slipped on our shoes and hopped on our bikes.

"So where are we going to be going?" she asked me.

"The wind feels nice. How about a ride in the park?" I replied.

"Sounds good. Bet I can beat you there!" she challenged me, rushing off at her top speed.

"Over my temporarily dead body!" I yelled and pedaled after her at my own top speed. We remained neck and neck the whole way, but at the end, my legs gave out and she ended up beating me. We took a break and rested at a bench in the park.

"So, don't you have something to tell me?" she asked, looking me in the eyes.

"Well, I do have something to say, but I can't decide whether or not to tell you about it…" I sighed, handing her a bottle of water and drinking from my own bottle.

"It's alright. You know you can tell me anything! This is why we are twins, after all!" she said, smiling and tilting her head to the side.

"Well, I'm worried about you, Ichigo…" I said, looking at the ground.

"Why would that be? This wouldn't be about Masaya would it?" she asked me, leaning in closer.

"Not at all. Although the fact that he was once a bad guy does sort of disturb me, I got over it about two hours ago. What really concerns me is the future. We are about to enter a full-on war with The Company and I don't want you to be hurt. This isn't like the child's play fights with the alien's Chimera Animals, this is real and we will be fighting other people like us who only have one goal: retrieve the MEWs and kill all others in their way," I sighed, looking into my sister's eyes.

"Well that does sound dangerous. But I trust you and my other friends, so I KNOW I'll be alright. Don't worry about me, bro, worry about yourself for once. I mean, YOU are the main target of this Company, so you should be the most careful," she said, grabbing my arm.

"I wish I could, but quite frankly, I view myself as weak and useless to the team. I mean, I can't even control my powers correctly and I even ended up hurting the Mew Mews…" I sighed, hanging my head again. Ichigo slapped me and I looked at her with shock.

"Don't say that! You are my brother and all of us trust you with our lives! It took us a while to learn to control OUR Mew Mew forms, so don't be so hard on yourself! Right now, we all are in the same boat. By being down on yourself, what can that do to help us out of it?!" she yelled at me.

"You… you're right sis. I'm sorry for being such a downer. From now on, I'll try to do my best to help out the team! But first things first, we have to get back home before the parents start to worry about us," I smirked, to which Ichigo smiled.

"Right, let's go home Ryan!" she said happily, getting up and on her bike. I did the same and we enjoyed a quiet and peaceful ride back up the hill to our home.

"So, Ryou? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Keiichiro asked the blonde man.

"If you are thinking of remodeling the Café, then yes, I am," Ryou replied.

"Alright, but shouldn't we get the new weapons out? I saw this coming, so I made sure to have special weapons crafted for the Mew Mews," Keiichiro said.

"Right. We'll present them with these after work tomorrow. But for now, we should act as if nothing is wrong. We don't want to mess up the Mew Mews performance on the job now do we?" Ryou asked rhetorically.

"Affirmative Ryou. I'll give them the weapons and give them a run down on the situation tomorrow," Keiichiro responded.

"Good. Now let's get some sleep, it is getting quite late," Ryou said, walking off to his bedroom.

"Sure thing…" Keiichiro sighed as he walked back to his room…


End file.
